Rescuers Find No Survivors at Site Where Indonesian Plane Crashed

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Nearly 100 rescuers reached the site of the Trigana Air plane that crashed on Sunday after being delayed by the difficulty of traveling through mountainous forests in bad weather. No survivors were found; the bodies of all 54 passengers were recovered. National Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo told the AP that "the plane was totally destroyed and all the bodies were burned and difficult toidentify."

An official told reporters yesterday that "There’s a possibility the aircraft hit a peak and then fell into a ravine because the place that it was found in is steep." Trigana Air Service is banned from flying in Europe because of its dismal safety record; it has had 14 serious accidents since 1991. Six other airlines are barred from traveling to the continent too. There have been two serious plane crashes in Indonesia in the pastyear.

Four postal workers on the plane were transporting about $470,000 in governmental aid, scheduled to be distributed to poor families nearby. The money was found, somewhat singed, and will be returned to authorities. The plane’s black box was also recovered from the crashsite.